How scary is it when.........

[10talents]

When did you go to work for Pierce County?

It is a great misfortune neither to have enough wit to talk well nor enough judgment to be silent.
~ Jean de la Bruyere

[pdsquicciarini]

Scary???: When your anchor's dragging, you're 100 yards from coral shelf, your vessel is 600 ft LOA, Draft 34 ft, blowing 35 knots now on the beam, the fathometer is shoaling up and everyone turns in unison and asks: "What do you want to do, Captain?". God gave me 88,000 HP (4 gas turbines) and twin rudders hard over at 37 degrees with an emergency astern/ahead engines twist. "Hold it until I tell you to take the bell off or you hear the crunch." Ended up twisting and skirting coral reef by less than 50 feet clear abeam accelerating to 34 knots to get off the lee shore. Pass a cup of coffee, pray, don't let the crew hear you sweat and when clear and away excuse yourself to your sea cabin to scream. No lottery tickets that week--used up all of my luck, and then some.-Captain Squicciarini

[richard8000milesaway]

previous post begs the question of why did vessel dragging an anchor wait until only 100 meters off reef to take action. or - further - why would a vessel of said dimensions ever anchor in such close proximity to danger?
sounds like a classic military scenario.
navy?

[dougpine]

Scary???: When your anchor's dragging, you're 100 yards from coral shelf, your vessel is 600 ft LOA, Draft 34 ft, blowing 35 knots now on the beam, the fathometer is shoaling up and everyone turns in unison and asks: "What do you want to do, Captain?". God gave me 88,000 HP (4 gas turbines) and twin rudders hard over at 37 degrees with an emergency astern/ahead engines twist. "Hold it until I tell you to take the bell off or you hear the crunch." Ended up twisting and skirting coral reef by less than 50 feet clear abeam accelerating to 34 knots to get off the lee shore. Pass a cup of coffee, pray, don't let the crew hear you sweat and when clear and away excuse yourself to your sea cabin to scream. No lottery tickets that week--used up all of my luck, and then some.-Captain Squicciarini

Glad it wasn't me, Cap, but boy I sure would love to play with an 88,000 hp 600 foot twin screw ship that does 34 knots!

[rjbpilot]

First, I'd like to commend everyone for being able to over-ride the natural basic instincts of seamen. That being after someone shares an experience, the natural reflex of the next would be "That ain't $hit!" as the preamble to their contribution.

Now....How scary is it when during a coffee break, the cook is observed cutting up chicken, then wiping the knife and cutting board with his apron....then chopping up the salad offerings......

Who was your cook E. Coli?

[rjbpilot]

Keep'em coming, these are great.....................

[seadog!]

"...an 88,000 hp 600 foot twin screw ship that does 34 knots!"

Sounds just about right for a Spruance-class DD.

[richard8000milesaway]

"Sounds just about right for a Spruance-class DD." I figured it had to be government, most prob navy. no commercial company I've experienced would: 1. have that sort of vessel, 2. allow anchoring of said vessel in that position/situation, 3. hire a crew that would anchor said vessel in said position!

yes, I'm guilty of being one of those maritime academy grads skeptical of us govt seamanship abilities. sorry for offending anyone.

[USCGAuxVin-gCapt]

when you note to the in-coming helmsman, "dolphins have been running constantly along the starboard side and making sharp breaks landward (70nm to starboard). It is so pronounced I can almost imagine that they are saying 'head in, head in'."

2 hours later, we sail into Hurricane Alberta where we messed about for 5 days... 1983...

www.twitter.com/@USCGAuxVin

[kzoo pilot]

Glad it wasn't me, Cap, but boy I sure would love to play with an 88,000 hp 600 foot twin screw ship that does 34 knots!

I was in a simulator course at MSI last fall and we got to perform MOB recovery, holding a range to an anchorage with a cross current, and docking on a DDG . . . "If finesse won't do it, horsepower will!"

When you are used to handling single screw bulkers with, at most, 10,000hp at 8.08m draft, it was quite an experience. Talk about being able to twist and walk a boat.

[dougpine]

I was in a simulator course at MSI last fall and we got to perform MOB recovery, holding a range to an anchorage with a cross current, and docking on a DDG . . . "If finesse won't do it, horsepower will!"

When you are used to handling single screw bulkers with, at most, 10,000hp at 8.08m draft, it was quite an experience. Talk about being able to twist and walk a boat.

We've done some pretty fun stuff with the Destroyer model in Advanced Shiphandling classes at PMI. It speeds things up when there are lots of students. Constant rate of turn at 30 knots, anyone?

[mtskier]

D, Do I need to take that class again, say in late March? : )
MTSKIER

[Ordinaryseaman]

How scary is it when-

as a brand new OS you are standing lookout with the mate... it's the middle of the night on a busy river just outside a major Northwest city.. the mate asks if you want to give the helm a try... you tell him you've never steered before- but you're happy to learn..

You're on the helm- and nervous- for a minute or two..

The mate asks how comfortable you are on the helm..

You say- "not at all comfortable- but I guess that comes with time"

The mate tells you he has to go to to the bathroom- and will be back shortly- then immediately walks off.. leaving you alone..

10 minutes later he returns and relieves a very relieved OS...

[injunear]

......you're half through a discharge of 150k bbl of cracking stock. You step out of the pump room to see the dock super having an apoplexy. It soon becomes clear why when you notice the DEU leaning on the hand rail, in cut-offs and flip-flops, no hard hat, talking on a cell phone, smoking a cigarette, directly in front of the dock office.
When asked WTF he was thinking, his response was "what's the big deal?? I'm off watch".

[Cal]

......you're half through a discharge of 150k bbl of cracking stock. You step out of the pump room to see the dock super having an apoplexy. It soon becomes clear why when you notice the DEU leaning on the hand rail, in cut-offs and flip-flops, no hard hat, talking on a cell phone, smoking a cigarette, directly in front of the dock office.
When asked WTF he was thinking, his response was "what's the big deal?? I'm off watch".

This job is dangerous enough without having to keep an unending lookout for someone that is desperately seeking their Darwin Award.

[Shellback]

"...an 88,000 hp 600 foot twin screw ship that does 34 knots!"

Sounds just about right for a Spruance-class DD.

Sure does, the Greyhounds of the seas...

[RkyMtn Paul]

Cal, twin screw with control reversible pitch screws. USS Caron DD970!! When the tugs were late taking us off the pier in Norfolk, our skipper would pull us off the dock w/o them. Even docked once. A lot of junior officers learned quite a bit about ship handling. Skipper was a Mass Maritime grad.

injunear, DOH!!

[cmakin]

I've been witness to many examples of the Lord taking care of drunks and sailors in the last 39 years. Especially with electricity. One that is burned into my memory...

We were caught in a winter storm for 4 days towing 225K bbl of MTBE. When the weather subsided, we got into the notch. The OS and I boarded the barge for inspection. I radioed back that there was 6 inches of water in the generator room and proceeded to the bow to check the wireways and windlass motor cmpt. On arriving at the bow, the generator was started and and put on line. I must have set the fat man speed record to the manifold emergency shut-down. It was enclosed in ice. Seconds later, when I hit the kill switch at the generator room, I peered down to see the CM standing in ankle deep water at the switchboard, adjusting the speed control.

That is why I never taught my mates how to start a generator. It never bothered me to get out of bed in the middle of the night to put a generator on. Somethings don't need to be delegated.

[cmakin]

Here is one. Doing supper relief, 3A/E on an SL-7 entering Rotterdam, pilot on board and answering bells. On the starboard throttle, the other Day Third on supper relief for the port side. Steaming at full ahead, both shafts. All of the sudden, getting a low steam drum level alarm. Feed water pressure and pump rpm okay. Main Steam pressure and temp okay. RPM-WHAT? 35 and dropping? Throttle control not responding. Open cabinet and start pumping handle for emergency hydraulics to throttle, still no response. RPM dropping. Steam drum level also dropping, but from press, not an issue anymore. See crack in emergency pump oil reservoir, start filling and getting pressure from hand pump. Throttle responding. Whew. Took about five minutes, but felt like an hour. Ultimate problem was the failure of the hydraulic pump coupling to the electric motor for the starboard throttle. Permanently fixed in about two hours.

[injunear]

Took about five minutes, but felt like an hour.

This will be covered under "Space/Time Continuum studies" in the new STCW requirements for engineers.